North Carolina has been showing a lot of interest in McKeesport, Pennsylvania defensive tackle Delvon Simmons for a while now, and at one point the Tar Heels were high on his teammate, defensive end Branden Jackson.

When UNC assistant coach John Blake was still in Chapel Hill the Tar Heels were very interested in Jackson, and had made that clear to the three-star defensive end.

After Blake resigned earlier this year it seemed as though UNC's interest died off a little bit. Now that interest seems to be picking back up again.

"It's a dead period now but before that I had coaches from North Carolina, Michigan and Michigan State come by," Jackson said.

"I was hearing from UNC a lot whenever coach Blake was there, but then I didn't hear from them for a while after that. Now I'm hearing from them again."

Jackson has already taken official visits to Texas Tech, Rutgers, Iowa and Oregon. He has not narrowed his list and said he will be taking his fifth official visit. He just does not yet know where he will be going.

He will be taking that fifth official visit sometime in January but does not have a date in mind yet.

Jackson is ranked the No. 29 strongside defensive end in the nation by Rivals.com.